272 THE EVOLUTION OF OUR NATIVE FRUITS 



It is strange that hybrids of the common apple and 

 Pyrus coronaria have never been found, although both 

 species are common in the eastern states. But the fact 

 that the apple seems to hybridize freely with Pyrus 

 loensis and not with P. coronaria, is' still further indi- 

 cation that these two native crabs are really distinct 

 species, as species go. To my mind, there is much 

 promise of good to come from the further amalgama- 

 tion of Pyrus loensis and the common apple, particularly 

 in the augmentation of hardiness of tree and keeping 

 qualities of the fruit. There is warrant for this opinion 

 in the old-time crabs of our gardens, of the Transcen- 

 dent type, for these are hybrids of the common apple 

 and the Siberian crab, Pyrus baccata. So distinct in 

 appearance are some of these apples that Willdenow 

 long ago called them a distinct species, Pyrus pruni- 

 folia.* There are many crabs in cultivation which 

 belong to this prunifolia class, and they are prized for 

 culinary qualities, beauty, productiveness and hardi- 

 ness. Pyrus prunifolia is to the apple and the Siberian 

 crab what Pyrus Soulardi is to the common apple and 

 the prairie states crab ; and if the former type is val- 

 uable we have reason to hope that the latter will be 

 also. Various experiments have already been made in 

 hybridizing this western crab with the apple, by C. G. 

 Patten, of Iowa, by experimenters at the Iowa Agri- 

 cultural College, and elsewhere ; but it is probable 

 that the larger part of the future improvement will 

 be fortuitous, for nature makes her experiments upon 

 an extensive scale, and she never gives up. The years 



*Willdenow's type of P. prunifolia, preserved in Berlin, shows flowers and 

 leaves, and has the botanical characters of the Transcendent and Hyslop crabs. 

 It is almost unmistakably a hybrid of Pyrus Malus and P. baccata. 



